The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on Thursday made an urgent appeal for $162.4 million to support the Chad government in providing assistance to 2.3 million people in immediate need of food, including more than 30,000 who recently fled the Sudan fighting, reported The Devdiscourse.
The fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary forces started on April 15.
According to the WFP, it has been responding to growing food needs in Chad, but due to financing shortfall food assistance for refugees and internally displaced people will come to a complete halt this month in the absence of additional funds.
“We need urgent funding to provide rapid food assistance to all vulnerable people in the country,” Pierre Honnorat, WFP’s country director in Chad, said in a statement.
Honnorat said the UN body is pre-positioning food to respond to the Sudan refugee crisis, but due to the rainy season, which hits in June, access to several areas in Chad will get cut off.
He added that rapid support from the international community is essential if the WFP is to continue supporting the Chadian Government in providing a coordinated, effective, and life-saving response to the needy people.
Notably, more than 30,000 people have crossed the border into Chad to escape the violence since hostilities erupted in Sudan three weeks ago. It is expected that thousands more may arrive in the coming weeks.
The influx of refugees in the last few weeks has added to around 600,000 mostly Sudanese refugees already present in Chad after fleeing previous conflicts in their countries. Most new arrivals are women and young children under five.
In related news, on Wednesday, the WFP warned that hunger is set to hit a record high in Sudan with an additional 2.5 million people in the country likely to be affected in the coming months as a result of the ongoing bloodshed.
